Patrice Riemens

Bio

Although I do research, write and publish (sometimes even in newspapers!)
I am not a media person in the traditional sense of the word - not with
the 'old media'. but I surely think I can be described as a 'new media'
person. I am not a professional either - a category which in our age of
'Transition' forms in my view more a problem than a solution anyway.

Media-wise I belong, a.o., to the group that founded nettime.org, have
moderated it for some time, and am still a regular contributor. Also to
the Sarai Reader list, and the Commons-law list. All three are fairly well
established discussion platforms in both the Global North and the Global
South.

For the remainder I have been contributing to/ publishing in scientific/
academic reviews like Multitudes (France), Cultural Politics (UK), and a
number of others. I research and write about issues which are very
adjacent to the concept of commons, or belong to it outright. For instance
my contributions to the Open Access/ Open Process/ Open Publications/ Open Review and Free Knowledge
movement.

I am also associated with the 'Open Organisations' movement which strives to make voluntary organisation more transparant and accountable, and with the 'Hack the State' initiative, where citizens develop tools and learn (by exchanging experiences) to make the administrative machinery of the state work for the commons instead of the other way round.

Very much into the philosophy of the commons, but at some distance from the digital world, is my active interest (under the inspiration of Roberto 'Obet' Verzola) in the "System of Rice Intensification" (SRI), a bottom-up movement for improving Riziculture in the Global South.

Currently, I am volunteer with and also board member of the Antenna Foundation in Nijmegen, a 'social ISP'.
And more lately, I have been involved in looking at the ins and out of the 'Wikileaks' phenomenon and the issue of openness of information in general.

Last but not least, I am a famous 'slacker' and propagandist of the Turkish (samovar) tea culture!